Patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia face a tough road ahead. Back in 2011, a clinical trial brought some hope when it revealed long-lasting complete remissions in patients with B-cell malignancies who received infusions of CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. This breakthrough was recognized by Science Journal, which named cancer immunotherapy the year's major achievement in 2013.

Fast forward to 2015, the first child enrolled in a CAR-T clinical trial, Emily Whitehead, made headlines by being invited to the White House during President Barack Obama's announcement of the Precision Medicine Initiative. And then, history was made on August 30, 2017, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Kymriah, the first cancer living drug, for treating leukemia and lymphoma.

Successful treatments have been achieved in the realm of blood cancers, and there's been a strong push to extend this approach to treat solid tumors as well. Initial outcomes are pointing towards the possibility of the next big breakthroughs happening beyond the realm of cancer. CAR-T cells might just become a versatile tool with wide-ranging applications in various fields, including autoimmunity, chronic infections, cardiac fibrosis, senescence-associated disease, and other conditions.